How does a Surface Skimmer Work?

**guan** · 23rd Mar 2006, 20:43

by the way, can i know how does surface skimmer works?
had heard of them very widely, but how does it helps in removing the oil layer from the planter tank?

**alantan9** · 23rd Mar 2006, 20:46

Hi Guan,

I think u can do a search for "surface skimmer" and there are some useful discussions on how to use a surface skimmer effectively. Hope this helps as me at first oso dunno how to use but then i did a search and found out that there were already a lot of sharing on this issue. =)

regards,
Alan

**Rupert** · 23rd Mar 2006, 21:29

To save you some time searching…Surface skimmers take water in from the water surface as well as from below. The amount of water taken from the surface is adjusted by the center screw which is also the guide that allows the transparent piece of plastic to go up and down as water levels change.

The protein film moves towards the skimmer and then is taken into the canister filter, other items eg leaves are also attracted but kept out, but if the skimmer is not set correctly then air can enter the filter causing some problems.

I found the skimmer worked wonders and cleared up the surface in minutes. $SG12 -14 is a good investment

**alanyeo99** · 24th Mar 2006, 11:21

ever wonder why tanks with overflow system never has protein film buildup? The proteins are flushed overboard. Surface skimmer apply the same method, albeit at a lower pace. All you need to do is to connect the skimmer intake (Rupert's pic) to the inlet of the cannister filter.